For the second time in the year, operatives the Nigeria Customs Service have invaded some markets in Lagos, claiming that the markets habour rice smuggled through the land borders in the state.
It was learnt that the Customs operatives who were officers from the Headquaters Compliance Unit confiscated over five truckloads of rice worth over N60 million from shops at the Iddo Railway Terminus in Lagos.
The Service has however said it is empowered by the law to impound any product suspected to be smuggled wherever such product could be found.
Customs Public Relations officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi said the seized rice was smuggled, adding that the Service acted on intelligence information that the smuggled rice was taken to the Iddo market.
“It is a message to smugglers that it is not just enough to bring goods across the border into the country; the goods can be seized even when they are in the country,” he sounded, advising Nigerians to desist from smuggling and choose the legitimate means of trading.
Some of the traders whose rice consignments were seized complained that they bought the rice from importers.
The owner of a shop where the officers of Customs reportedly seized 5,000 bags of rice was said to have collapsed and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
“The value of rice seized from her shop is over N60m and she took a loan from the bank for the business,” one of the dealers, who pleaded anonymity, said.
“They swooped on the markets in the afternoon, brandishing guns. They locked up the shops and went away, only to come back in the middle of the night, around 2am to break into the shops and cart away all the bags of rice they found there. They came back to cart away more rice.
“Women are the ones selling in the markets, the Customs are supposed to be at the borders to prevent smuggled rice from coming into the country, but they allowed the rice to come in, only to come harassing traders with guns. We are pleading with them to return the rice to the traders,” the source added.
